CHAPTER VI. 



ORCHARD LIFE. 



Fig. 136. 

 Knotgrass and 

 the knotgrass 

 beetle, 'rastro- 

 idej polygoni. 



An orchard is an excellent place for 

 Nature study. Here live many kinds 

 of tiny creatures, each kind with its 

 own peculiar mode of life. Some have 

 comparatively simple life histories, 

 merely eating and growing and final- 

 ly laying eggs for another geneiation ; 

 but others undergo wonderful transfor- 

 mations, and still others exhibit an in- 

 stinct that seems much like reason. And 

 even those that appear to live the most 

 humdrum existence are well worthy of 

 careful study, for their lives are never as 

 simple as they seem at first sight. 



By a study of orchard life there may 

 be learned also much that is of immediate 

 practical importance ; some of the most 

 dreaded insect pests infest fruit trees. A 

 thorough knowledge of the ways of these 

 depredators enables us to plan successful- 

 ly methods of destroying them, and thus 

 to prevent their ravages. 



To carry on this study it is not neces- 

 sary to go to a large orchard. Except in 

 a city, almost every dwelling-house has 

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